WHY BLOG? WHY JOURNALIZE?

I am learning that writing in a journal is beneficial for writing skills, but I do not believe in the past it was as much as it is now, the computer grammar checker is teaching me grammar.

I think in the past it helped a person to create a style and a voice. But I truly believe that 90 percent of people that journalize all their lives are excellent writers and do not feel any shame on their abilities. If I had shame or felt guilty for being less then at writing I would probably not write this, but I really do not aspire to be the worlds greatest writer. That is not my bag. I just like to collect ideas. I am idea collector, and have realized yearly that it is truly possible that the worlds knowledge can be accessible to the average person. It will someday be easy to find information on anything. The internet is just a jumble of crap right now, but eventually they will suss it out and they will make a great indexing system that solves all the confusion.

I read the encyclopedia daily to learn.

I READ MY GUIDEBOOK?

I have been having problems with mailing this package back to the USA. I hate to mail things, and normally refuse to do so, but the idea of making money to travel is spurring me on, and making me continue. But yesterday it occurred to me to read my guidebook to see what it said, and it told me what has taken some frustration to learn. I normally have a guidebook and sit around and peruse the thing to learn idle facts. This guidebook has only been in my hands for a week and I have not sat around and looked at the things, although I am pretty much bored with reading guidebooks. Sort of an necessary annoyance. But I do need a guidebook and would not travel without one, just seems ridiculous to not have one, when inside I am provided with a guide through 50 percent of my problems. Why reinvent the wheel?

POLITICS VERSUS NORMAL CRAP

I wonder how many of my readers are now becoming bored with the normal travel problems? I started this blog before going to Iraq so that was a lot of political problems and current events. Now my life is more preoccupied with just normal travel problems and situations.

IT WOULD DRIVE PEOPLE CRAZY

I have discovered a small curious difference in 220 plugs in the world. 220 plugs have round prongs instead of flat, but the India ones seem to be shorter and fatter, but the problem or probably a good thing is they fit into the other size slot. So they appear to be interchangeable but in a very sloppy way.

I have notice this for maybe a year in different places the plug were loose, but just blamed it on being an old outlet and bad quality, but now I realize there is really a problem with the sizes.

All plugs and outlets in the world cause some problems, but I am learning all the time about the electricity of the world. They sell these universal adapters in some travel or baggage outlets. I look at them and think they would maybe work, but I am realizing that they would not work for long. They would do fine until one of these plugs welds or burns up the prongs inside the adapter and then what you have is a 25 Dollars Universal piece of trash.

I have never bought one because although it appears convenient, it also seemed way too expensive for the situation. It also misses the whole point. I better check and look at one of these adapters again, but I am 90 percent sure they do not have adapters that fit into light bulb sockets. This is where I need an adapter the most. There are lots of rooms in the world with no plugs. Maybe 20-30 percent have no plugs and I must put an adapter inside the light outlet. In the very worse situation they have a florescent light and I am totally in trouble. Almost, not completely and still know a way, but this gets to be ridiculous. I have only been in one Hotel or Hostel in 7 years where there was zero ways to connect. The El Lobo in La Paz Bolivia. They just had the place completed sealed off from allowing residents to monkey with the electricity in any way, but it was owned by an Israeli person and this would make sense. They are very smart and could think of every possible way a resident could use electricity.

I was just thinking to myself how they should change the laptops. I can often find an plug outside my room and could charge this newer computer and they use inside the room for a couple of hours.

But it is too dangerous to leave my computer outside the room charging. Someone would steal it. But if I could remove the battery and plug the battery only into an outlet, they would not steal the battery.

All the situations I encounter in living would drive a person crazy. I realize why people do not use or carry their computers, or so many have a computer and it gets stolen, broke, or they stop using it because of the hassles. I would venture to guess that less then 50 percent of the business travelers use their laptops when traveling. But a Hilton or one of the real nice hotels make the use of electronic devices easy. But the world does need a universal electrical outlet. I am pretty sure that 110 electricity is the best, because it does not weld the plugs or destroy them as fast. I am not positive on this point.

Most people that use a laptop a lot stay in either 5 star hotels or stay in the same locations a long time. They do not have to adapt on a weekly basis. Figuring out how to make your computer work once every 3 months is easier then trying to make your computer work once every week.

CD ROM PLAYERS AND MOBILE PHONES

The invention of the lithium battery has made the use of rechargeable batteries a great idea and not just usable The lithium battery is truly a rechargeable battery. I am now surrounded with travelers that are carrying cell or mobile telephones. They drive me crazy talking about these gadgets, because to me the last thing I need is a cell telephone, but they are getting closer and closer to being valuable. The use of CD Players is becoming rampant with the travelers as they need their music. The problem is batteries. It cost a small fortune for batteries for the CD players. The mobile phones are always rechargeable, but they are going to run into the plug problem. It is fortunate that people do not really travel around in a lot of countries like me, but really just in one area. Most tend to keep their adventures in the same general area. Say for example South America or South East Asia, but not all of them.

I FOUND A GREAT PRODUCT YESTERDAY

I bought this rechargeable flashlight yesterday. I has both a flashlight for pointing and another light on top for reading. It plugs into the wall and recharges, and it has a compass on the side. There is also an adapter to plug in your CD Rom player so you can use this as a battery. This all cost 2 Dollars or about 2 Euros. The cost was 90 Rupees. It is made in China and probably will fall apart quickly but for 90 Rupees it is worth the chance.

India electricity goes off about the same as Iraq. It is off and on, off and on, off and on, never a solid day. Not a big problem, but still annoying. Iraq was richer and everyone had a generator, but here the hotels are poorer so they do not have generators. So rechargeable flashlights or torches as the British call them is great. I do not want to pay a fortune for batteries. I am very good with gadgets, electronics, and all the devices of the world. Although the world believe they are good with these widgets I believe there is steadily becoming a gap between who is capable of understanding and using them and who is not. This is the real economic gap that is appearing to me. The people that have the innate ability to learn and those who do not. It is nothing to do with class that will separate the people. It is raw intelligence.

But there is hope for Bill Gates. If the computer industry invents a truly voice controlled world that understand human speech they will be rich and all these minor problem will be solved by the computer and the person will not have to learn.